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In this episode, we perceive the muddle in the mind of a lady, as captured in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 45, penned by Aalangudi Vanganaar. Set in the farmlands of ‘Marutham’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante, passing on a hidden message to the man’s messengers, listening nearby.
காலை எழுந்து, கடுந் தேர் பண்ணி,
வால் இழை மகளிர்த் தழீஇய சென்ற
மல்லல் ஊரன், ‘எல்லினன் பெரிது’ என,
மறுவரும் சிறுவன் தாயே;
தெறுவது அம்ம, இத் திணைப் பிறத்தல்லே.
Pursuits of a rich townsman is portrayed in this one! The verse starts at dawn in the words ‘காலை எழுந்து’ meaning ‘rising in the morning’ and then goes on to talk about ‘கடுந் தேர் பண்ணி’ meaning ‘decking a speedy chariot’. Preparations that precede a journey can be ascertained from these words. Transitioning from the man to what the lady is doing, the spotlight falls on ‘மறுவரும் சிறுவன் தாயே’ meaning ‘perplexed is the boy’s mother’. Ending with ‘இத் திணைப் பிறத்தல்லே’ meaning ‘being born in this heritage’, the verse seems to talk about a particular society and its norms!
A rich man’s preparations, a lady’s puzzlement and a culture’s prescription! The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a married life when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans. After a while, the man seeks to return to the lady and sends his messengers to test the waters. Understanding the lady’s state of mind, when those messengers are in earshot, the confidante says, “Waking up in the morning, and preparing his speedy chariot, the lord of the fertile town went to embrace maiden wearing shining jewels. Considering him, who is glowing after his activities, as important, the mother of that young boy ends up in confusion. Alas, it brings great misery, being born in such a tradition!” With these words, the confidante expresses both the troubled state of mind of the lady in this situation and at the same time, passes a hidden message that she would accept the man back into her house.
Time to study the confusion in the lady’s mind! Outlining the man’s activities one after the other, the confidante describes how he wakes up in the morning and starts preparing his chariot as if he’s about to set out on a mission, but then, leaves to embrace the courtesans, women who deck themselves with shining jewels. He is no doubt a lord from a rich town to be undertaking such leisurely pursuits and that’s how the confidante sketches him too. From the man, she turns to the lady’s reactions and says how she seems to consider him, one who has been up to such activities, as someone important in her life. While she calls the man, ‘one from a fertile town’, the confidante addresses the lady as ‘the boy’s mother’, referring as if the most important identity of the lady’s life is being the mother of the man’s child. Adding how this young mother is much confused, the confidante concludes by saying that it’s indeed a miserable thing to be born in that society!
To understand the significance of that concluding statement, we have to delve into the social customs of these farmland towns. They were the so-called centres of civilisation and there arose an imbalanced distribution of wealth, which was the root cause of all this conflict. Although the man went away and did things that were hurtful to the lady, the society seemed to have prescribed that she accept him, when he returned to her fold. Even when her heart was refusing, the world outside seemed to be forcing her to accept the man and his ways. That’s why the confidante declares that the lady is to be pitied for being born in that tradition. She seems to be telling ‘if you ask me, the man has no business making the lady suffer so’ and so right she is, indeed!
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